I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for application of biochar in agricultural environments, including trees, row crops and vineyards, and in particular, an organic soil amendment produced from plant matter that significantly improves soil quality to improve water and nutrient efficiency, and thus improves plant quality and crop yield.
II. Background
Biochar has been known for many years as a soil enhancer. It contains highly porous, high carbon content material similar to the type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin known as Terra Preta, which has very high charcoal content and is made from a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure. Biochar is created by the pyrolysis of biomass, which generally involves heating and/or burning of organic matter, in a reduced oxygen environment, at a predetermined rate. Such heating and/or burning is stopped when the matter reaches a charcoal like stage. The highly porous material of biochar is suited to host beneficial microbes, retain nutrients, hold water and act as a delivery system for a range of beneficial compounds suited to specific applications.
Raw biochar, while known for its soil enhancing characteristics, does not always benefit soil and, depending upon the biomass from which the biochar is produced, could potentially be harmful to the soil, making it unsuitable for various types of crops or other productive uses. In particular, biochar can be detrimental, or even toxic, to 1) soil microbes involved in nutrient transport to the plant; 2) plants and 3) humans. Raw biochars derived from different biomass will have different physical and chemical properties and will behave quite differently. For example, raw biochar having pH levels too high, containing too much ash or inorganics, or containing toxins or heavy metal content too high can be harmful and/or have minimal benefit to the soil and the plant life it supports. Raw biochar can also contain unacceptable levels of residual organic compounds such as acids, esters, ethers, ketones, alcohols, sugars, phenyls, alkanes, alkenes, phenols, polychlorinated biphenyls or poly or mono aromatic hydrocarbons which are either toxic or not beneficial to plant or animal life.
Currently, because of the unpredictable results of biochar and its potential to be a detriment to plant life and growth, biochar has mostly been a scientific curiosity, has not found wide spread use, has not found large scale commercial application, and has been relegated to small niche applications. It is, however, known that biochar having certain characteristics can host beneficial microbes, retain nutrients, hold water, and act as a delivery system for a range of beneficial compounds suited to specific applications. Thus, it has been a continued desire to capture the beneficial soil enhancing characteristic of biochar. Biochar research has continued in an attempt to harness biochar having predictable, controllable, and beneficial results as a soil amendment for large scale applications.
The desire to harness the benefits of biochar in commercial agriculture exists but previous academic research has been done using rates of biochar that are not economically justifiable nor practically feasible to apply in a commercial agriculture setting.
Thus, given the known benefits of biochar, a need remains for large scale applications of biochar having generally sustainable, controllable and/or particular physical and chemical properties known to have the highest positive impact on soils and that will benefit and enhance plant life and growth in a way that is practically feasible and economical to a grower. A need exists, for an effective biochar that can be applied in a way to allow commercial agriculture to incorporate it into normal agricultural processes at a cost-effective rate in order to take advantage of biochar's ability to improve soil quality to allow for more efficient use of water and nutrients. Some possible benefits of commercially feasible, effective application of these materials are for both public and private entities to maintain trees, plants, turfs, lawns, crops, and grasses while improving soil health, potentially conserving water, and allowing for more efficient use of synthetic chemicals and nutrients—all valuable benefits in our modern world.